The Howling
by Kosaten no Kokinatsuyosa
Summary: Set before AOATS. Mewtwo is guided through a dark wood by the female Lucario Salix, but with the dreaded Zoroark Nightstorm Pack hot on their heels, will they survive the night? Oneshot.


A/N: Based on the song "The Howling" by Within Temptation.

The Howling

The full moon had risen fully over the rolling hills and onyx forest beneath it. A massive lake sat in the center of this ancient wood, its blue gray sparkling waters reflecting the light of the silvery moon. All was quiet in the stillness of the forest, and glassy surface of the pool of water was disturbed only by the pale sapphire Mew who paused a moment in the center to admire her reflection and the way her fur glittered as the moonlight reflected of the water. Something attracted her attention, and in a flash of light she was gone.

The forest exploded.

The dark forms of Honchkrow, Noctowl, and similar Pokémon erupted from the dense trees in a cacophony of squawking and hooting, as foliage was disrupted and fluttered to the ground below.

A pale bipedal form, his silvery body contrasting sharply with the dark shapes of the forest, moved through the ebony trees with surprising swiftness, yet his paws could only carry him for so far, and for so long.

Mewtwo leaped into the air as he came to the glade, his body glowing a silvery indigo with power. He pushed his airborne body across the open space of the lake as his foes drew nearer. He had to find cover.

The golden Lucario who was his guide through this forest snarled from behind him as she defended his exposed back from the crunching jaws of a pair of Houndoom. A Hydreigon screeched as it swooped down from above him, but a blast of Salix's deadly Dragon Pulse attack saved him once more.

A chilling howl rose through the frigid night air, and as the pair turned back toward the wooded hills behind them, a snarling pack of over fifty bipedal wolves descended upon them, their red manes streaming behind them.

-_It's the Zoroark!_ – Salix cried. The leader of the pack - a massive blue-maned male – launched himself at her, and as she yelped as his jaws locked around her arm. She growled and slammed an Aura Sphere into his face, and the savage beast fell to the ground, the right side of his face scorched and smoldering.

The Zoroark's packmates were instantly thrown into a frenzy, and Mewtwo and Salix desperately sought an opening in the solid wall of gleaming fangs and claws around them. Blood flowed around them as if from a fountain, and they quickly ceased to discern whether it came from them or their foes. The savage wolves began to fall before the might of their Aura attacks, and many did not arise to challenge them again.

Spying a sudden opening in the horde, Mewtwo broke free of the Zoroark pack, and Salix rushed to follow the larger Pokemon as he barreled his way through the dark horde using the Aura techniques she had taught him. _The psychic type has been a good pupil in the ways of Aura,_ Salix thought to herself, _and if I perish ensuring that he arrived safely through this dark wood, then so be it_. As he vanished into the forest, she sped after him.

XXX

Bane arose from where he had been struck down. The Zoroark raised his head and shook his blue mane vigorously. The intruder's attacks had hurt, but he had endured far worse during the years that he had climbed to the position of Alpha. They, the Nightstorm Pack, were the most feared of the Dark packs in the forest, and this was their hunting ground. These outsiders were not welcome.

Forcing his damaged amber eye open, the Zoroark tracked the strangers sent into the forest, allowing his keen senses to guide him. They were hiding from him, but where? He was close; he could hear their labored breathing…

A howl shattered the quiet, and as their quarry was flushed out the chase began anew.

Dodging the deadly bursts of electric blue Aura that they cast from their paws, Bane leapt for the strangely hued Lucario's tender throat. Her scream was cut short as he locked his jaws in place, yet his prey was suddenly torn from his grasp once more by the demonic psycat. The fact that a Psychic type could stand against him at all was an insult that he would not allow.

XXX

-_The border of their territory is just beyond this ridge! We can make it! –_ Salix called ahead to Mewtwo as the sky began to lighten. She stumbled and Mewtwo grasped her uninjured arm and hauled her back onto her feet.

-_Do not stop, we must gain as much ground as possible,_ - Mewtwo said, ignoring the exhaustion that clawed at him.

Another howl rent the still air, and the pair redoubled their speed as they neared the cliff that marked the border of their pursuers land.

Gasping as they came to the ridge, the beheld the rising sun in all its fiery glory for the first time, and the Zoroark snarled in annoyance at the burst of light.

"They must not traverse beyond the rise!" Bane ordered his subordinates. "These abominations die here!"

Howling, the pack set upon them in a final effort to destroy them. Mewtwo knew they had but one hope of escape.

-S_alix, do you trust me? _–

-_With my life._ - She answered without hesitation as she launched an Aura Sphere at a Zoroark in front of him.

- _Prepare yourself! _– He wrapped an arm around her and launched himself off the face of the cliff into the empty air. Salix gasped in terror as the fell to the overflowing river below. Just as Salix was certain that they would plunge into the depths below, Mewtwo's power caught them, and carried them safely across the river to the opposite bank.

The pair breathed a sigh of relief, and with a final glance at the enraged blue Zoroark standing on the cliff behind them, they continued on, protected from the darkness by the light of the sun.


End file.
